True Quality CleaningStraight talk about caring for fine garments & household textiles from an expert who calls it like it is. In plain English.

When hand pressed, isn't handpressed (part one)

Britain's Advertising
Standards Authority (ASA) just banned two Louis Vuitton ads, ruling that the ads misled
consumers into believing that their products are hand-made.

One of the ads featured a photograph of a woman hard-stitching
the handle of a handbag. The second ad showed a woman hand-cutting
the folds of a wallet.

The text of the latter ad reads: "In everything from Louis
Vuitton, there are elements that cannot be fully explained. What
secret little gestures do our craftsmen discretely pass on? How do
we blend innate skill and inherent prowess? Or how can five tiny
folds lengthen the life of a wallet? Let's allow these mysteries to
hang in the air. Time will provide the answers."

At first, Louis Vuitton argued that their campaign was a "homage
to the craftsmanship" of their "artisans", and were dramatized
interpretations of their production processes. Later, they were
forced to admit that they used sewing machines for "strength,
accuracy and durability."

The ASA concluded that the ads were deceptive because Louis
Vuitton had failed to prove that their products were hand-made.

In arguing their case before the ASA, Louis Vuitton could not
overcome the fact that their luxury goods are made primarily by
machine and that human involvement in the process was limited to
operating a machine.

So what's all this got to do with drycleaning and shirt
laundry?

Just this: almost every cleaner swears that they
hand press your fine garments and shirts. But, just like Louis
Vuitton, the facts prove to be quite different.

Truth is, ordinary cleaners love their presses.

Why? Because, of all the functions performed by a cleaner,
pressing is where ordinary cleaners can achieve the greatest
productivity, i.e., where they can move garments through their
system with maximum speed. This is especially the case at lower and
mid-priced cleaners and at so-called high-end cleaners that offer a
two tier pricing structure, generically, dubbed their "basic"
and "premium" service.

Pressing is where your garments are banged out on
a press at a furious rate. Typically, 30 to 40 pants per hour per
presser; 20 to 30 non-pant garments per hour per presser; and 40 to
50 laundered shirts per hour on a "single buck" shirt pressing
machine (80 to 100 per hour on a "double buck" shirt pressing
machine).

That's 1 or 2 minutes per laundered shirt and 2 to 3 minutes per
garment that's not a laundered shirt!

Here's the problem: pressing is the area of operations where a
cleaner can inflict the greatest damage to a garment.

Pressing is where your garments are subjected to too much
pressure, with too much steam, for way too long. Especially when it
comes to wools, silks, rayons, knits, and other non-cotton and
non-linen fabrics.

By contrast, a true quality cleaner will hand iron your fine
garments. A hand iron in the hands of a skilled finisher
will produce an infinitely superior garment than a press in the
hands of a machine operator.